Vietnam SPS proposes to coordinate with the Embassy in China

On February 8, Vietnam Sanitary and Phytosanitary Notification Authority and Enquiry Point ('Vietnam SPS') sent Notice No.17 to the Vietnamese Embassy in China, requesting to work with the General Administration of Customs of China in removing obstacles for enterprises exporting agricultural products to this country.

"In the past time, Vietnam SPS has received effective support from the Vietnamese Embassy in the registration of enterprises to export agricultural and food products to China in compliance with the provisions of Decree 248 and Decree 249 of the General Administration of Customs of China", a paragraph in the notice.

According to the Vietnam SPS Office, as of February 8, the General Administration of Customs of China has approved 1,528 agricultural and food product codes for Vietnamese businesses. However, Vietnam SPS received questions after more than a month of domestic enterprises implementing Decrees 248 and 249.

Specifically: (1) 3 enterprises have submitted registration documents with the competent authority of Vietnam before November 1, 2021, according to the instructions in Note No.353 dated September 27, 2021, of the General Administration of Customs of China; has had orders, cleared at the export port of Vietnam, had a customs declaration before January 1, 2022; currently the consignments are at the port of Vietnam but have not been issued a code.

(2) 6 enterprises have submitted registration documents with the competent authority of Vietnam before November 1, 2021, according to the instructions in Note No.353 of September 27, 2021, of the General Administration of Customs of China, but no codes are granted.

(3) Some enterprises have been granted codes by the General Administration of Customs of China, but they do not have exact business codes or product codes.

(4) 7 product codes: CVNM17021910160001, CVNM17022002130002, CVNM17022006110003, CVNM17022006110004, CVNM17022007140005, CVNM17022101070006, CVNM17022112010010, not under the management of the Food Safety Department (Ministry of Health), but the Department of Animal Health (MARD).

To ensure no disruption to agricultural trade between the two countries and remove difficulties for businesses, Vietnam SPS proposed that the Vietnamese Embassy works with the General Administration of Customs of China to develop solutions to handle the aforementioned problems.